A disturbing new trend? UK hotels adding a service charge to your room rate

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• Tom C says:

  13 Sep13 September 05:19

  I have been staying at The Connaught regularly for over 10 years (200+ stays) and I cannot recall ever not seeing the service charge. It does at least go to all the staff though.

  • Doug M says:

    13 Sep13 September 08:02

    You’ve never seen it but know how it’s distributed? I’d have little faith the staff get it.
    Even if they do, anything that expands on wages through favour rather than legitimate means is a step backwards.

    • Genghis says:

      13 Sep13 September 08:09

      Double negative

      • Doug M says:

        13 Sep13 September 08:12

        Right, missed that. I’ll remain skeptical of its distribution.

        • Tom C says:

          14 Sep14 September 08:27

          Source: my wife worked there (I met her as a result of staying there so often)

    • John says:

      13 Sep13 September 09:54

      I worked there, started in 2003. The staff definitely get it.

      • Lady London says:

        13 Sep13 September 11:11

        tronc system though, whereby management get the most and staff very little according to rank and years service?

  • TGLoyalty says:

    13 Sep13 September 08:25

    I’ve had a look back in my emails and wasn’t charged this in March 2020.

    Perhaps they gave it to Emyr inclusive in the rate rather than discretionary

• 1ATL says:

  13 Sep13 September 05:20

  Being discretionary, am I within my right to decline the opportunity to pay the service charge and have it knocked off my bill?
  I stayed at a SLH hotel in the UK a couple of months ago on a prepaid rate (booked at fairly short notice within the cancellation policy) and so my card was charged before we checked in. Upon leaving we got an incidental bill for our resort spend slipped under the door on the morning of check out with one of these discretionary charges applied. I did pay it but driving home it was niggling me that I should have challenged it. Would it have been likely it would have resulted in the charge being knocked off the bill do you think?

  • Crafty says:

    13 Sep13 September 06:07

    Of course, it’s discretionary. They rely on the embarrassment factor to avoid this in most cases.

    • cinereus says:

      13 Sep13 September 06:33

      Exactly. And the only game theory optimal strategic choice is to never start paying.

  • Char Char says:

    13 Sep13 September 06:43

    It is my company policy to not pay discretionary charges

    • Andrew says:

      13 Sep13 September 07:02

      It’s my personal policy too. I’ll look out for this and ask reception to remove if I see it.

    • Super Secret Stuff says:

      13 Sep13 September 07:24

      We are only allowed to pay upto 5% in the UK for “genuinely exceptional service”

      • Super Secret Stuff says:

        13 Sep13 September 07:26

        Only at restaurants. Hit submit too soon!

    • TGLoyalty says:

      13 Sep13 September 08:22

      It’s my companies that only those that are “customary” should be paid and they have to be in keeping with general expectation ie 10% in U.K. 20% USA etc etc

• 1ATL says:

  13 Sep13 September 05:24

  Why can’t the service charge be included in the room rate? Why does everything need to be itemised separately? How much longer until we see a housekeeping charge, a shower gel replenishment fee, a TV remote control battery levy? Where does it all end?

  • Craig says:

    13 Sep13 September 05:39

    Don’t forget the kettle cleaning fee?

    • 1ATL says:

      13 Sep13 September 05:48

      No I’d pay that one – knowing what some people do in hotel kettles! (*_*)

      • J says:

        13 Sep13 September 08:19

        Almost as bad as what happens with the remote control…

  • Rantallion says:

    13 Sep13 September 08:10

    Discretionary means no VAT has to be accounted for on the charge – include it in the room rate and VAT becomes due on it.

    • lumma says:

      13 Sep13 September 08:52

      If the service charge is paid to staff it’s not subject to VAT, if the hotel or restaurant keeps it for itself they have to pay the VAT

  • Fraser says:

    13 Sep13 September 08:55

    Yes, for hotels which still charge for WiFi, I ask them what the charge is for hot water, electricity etc. (as these actually have a marginal cost to the hotel, unlike WiFi).

• Jeff Greene says:

  13 Sep13 September 05:27

  “ One US hotel CEO has publicly said that he wants guests to start tipping on room rates because otherwise he will have to increase wages”

  That poor ceo having to increase wages in response to changing market conditions.

  Not going to book any hotel which has these charges.

  • tony says:

    13 Sep13 September 07:38

    The linked article is worth reading for the context – the CEO notes that people used to leave cash tips in room for housekeeping, but now society is increasingly cashless, that’s not happening. Obviously just paying people properly in the first place seems like a better solution, but….

    • kk says:

      13 Sep13 September 22:54

      still its inappropriate he the ceo isnt paying the staff well enough.

      i would be ashamed if i run a business and the customers need to tip for better servuce.

• DP says:

  13 Sep13 September 06:11

  The Westbury had this back in December, too.

• Nick says:

  13 Sep13 September 06:24

  Well I would be declining this on principle if nothing else. It’s up to the hotel to pay its staff properly, if they can’t then they need to either reduce profits or raise prices. Hopefully government will see sense and enforce inclusive pricing again by tweaking the rules to stamp this out as well.

  • Magic Mike says:

    13 Sep13 September 06:44

    This sort of behaviour is standard in the restaurant industry though, so are they going to ban it there too?

    • HBommie says:

      13 Sep13 September 06:51

      Good idea

    • Craig says:

      13 Sep13 September 06:57

      No tips in Japan.

    • Super Secret Stuff says:

      13 Sep13 September 07:41

      Difference is, you are buying a purely man powered service. E.g. they can make or break the experience and they determine if the food tastes nice.

      Hotels, you don’t really need to interact with the staff that much unless you have a problem. They aren’t actually adding any value beyond what is expected unless they make your towels into swans and remember what you’re up to to ask how you’ve been. That said it’s not an excuse for poor service, that just hacks me off

    • Dominic says:

      13 Sep13 September 08:54

      To be clear, I also expect restaurants to properly pay their staff. It isn’t for me to subsidise them.

      I should note, I generally do pay service charge in restaurants but *only* after confirming that it does in fact go to staff… should be illegal for it not to, but unfortunately it is not!

      • Memesweeper says:

        13 Sep13 September 10:19

        Until the pandemic I exclusively tipped in cash and asked for service charges to be removed. It’s the only way to be sure. I might need to get back into the habit…

        • The Savage Squirrel says:

          13 Sep13 September 13:32

          Agree; there’s no guarantees, but cash tips certainly improve chances of it going to staff from people I speak to in the hospitality industry…
          …Although the guy serving us who aggressively hustled for “cash tips only” at the Radisson Manchester Airport managed to downgrade himself in the process from the cash tip he was going to get to … nothing. 😀

• Martin says:

  13 Sep13 September 06:26

  One thing I have noticed over the last few months is the number of hotels no longer servicing your room if staying for several nights. The reason given is ‘COVID’. No beds made, towels replaced or toiletries replenished unless requested. I wonder if this will continue going forward? You then have to pay an extra ‘service fee’ if you want this?

  • CarpalTravel says:

    13 Sep13 September 06:34

    Agreed, it’s a great excuse. We stayed at a Inn collection group place last month though and it was serviced daily and to an exemplary standard, so it can certainly be done. If anything, it is even more important to do so.

  • John says:

    13 Sep13 September 07:15

    I prefer to have housekeeping on request, but before covid declining housekeeping could result in extra points or a voucher to use at the bar/restaurant – that isn’t going to happen any more

    • Can says:

      13 Sep13 September 07:39

      This. No extra points anymore for declining it

    • Super Secret Stuff says:

      13 Sep13 September 07:45

      I think the future will be chosen by premier inn, if they ditch it the practice will become widespread. If they keep it, we could see a change back to how it used to work. Reusable toileries in dispensers are here to stay for good, one less problem for declining a service

      • Laura says:

        13 Sep13 September 11:55

        Stayed at a Premier Inn in August for four nights and no housekeeping. Had to go to reception for top-ups.

        Stopped at an Ibis more recently and they emptied the bins, gave us fresh towels etc but didn’t make the beds.

    • Genghis says:

      13 Sep13 September 07:46

      Was still going strong at HIX Inverness a couple of weeks ago.

      • Riku says:

        13 Sep13 September 10:10

        Scandic were doing this even a couple of years ago. You had to ask for daily housekeeping otherwise they would not come into your room to even empty the bins. They did not give any extra points for not doing housekeeping – unlike Sheraton who would give you more points for each night you declined housekeeping

• Char Char says:

  13 Sep13 September 06:42

  The whole idea of stitching on additional charges is just a penny pinching tactic for businesses who feel they can take advantage, of their customers. If their service is premium then demanding a premium price upfront shouldn’t be an issue from the start, no need to add in random fees everywhere or expect tip unless you are desperate to get every penny.

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